Our Trip Out West

Back in early September, Bruce and I took a trip out West for a little bit longer than a week to celebrate our 15th anniversary. While we were gone, Bruce's parents watched the kids for us, along with all that that entails (fixing breakfast for three kids, packing lunches, driving the kids to and from school, doing homework, working Awanas verses, doing extra laundry, etc.). My inlaws are pretty great.

Bruce and I landed in Las Vegas, Nevada, at night. Factoring in the time change of three hours, it was past my bedtime, which could partly explain why I wasn't all that impressed with the city. That, and the fact that I don't appreciate porn. Or gambling. Or partying with alcohol. We simply drove down the strip on our way to our room at the Holiday Inn in Henderson, so we were in the area basically to sleep in our hotel for one night; I didn't really need to be all thrilled about the place.

When we woke up the next morning, we got some pictures of each of us sitting in our rental car, a Ford Mustang convertible. We parked in a Lowe's parking lot to get some of God's scenery in the background instead of some of the man-made structures that Las Vegas is known for.



Then we left Vegas and headed elsewhere. For what we actually came for. We did a drive-by viewing of Lake Mead.



And here's Bruce at our stop at Hoover Dam.



We drove along some of Route 66, through historic Seligman, Arizona, before getting to one of the trip highlights for me... Sedona.





While in Sedona, we took a tour with Pink Jeep Tours, which was outstanding. Worth every penny we spent on it. It was fun and beautiful. Plus, we had an excellent tour guide, Gary, who just for fun, took us an extra 30 minutes past the regular touring area, because we were his last tour of the day.

When we finished the tour, we went to the bathroom at a public restroom in town. I wiped off my face with a paper towel and it came back red from all the red rock dust the jeep had kicked up on the tour.

Then we staked out a place to eat a late supper and settled on The Barking Frog, which was fantastic. Great atmosphere, super waiter, yummy food.

Then we drove on to Flagstaff to stay the night. I woke up the next morning with my eye swollen shut. A mean bug bite that itched like crazy. And we planned to visit the Grand Canyon, so I didn't want one eye clamped shut. I had some impressiveness to SEE. After picking up some eye drops, we were good to go. We drove nearly 100 miles and then... The Grand Canyon.

There is no way these pictures do it justice, because you simply cannot imagine how large this canyon is without standing near the edge and turning your head to gawk at God's magnificence.

I kept thinking of the song "Glorious One" by Fee the whole time we were at the Grand Canyon. Here are the lyrics:

Our hands are lifted high
Our hearts are bowing in reverence
And we're surrounded by
The glory of Your presence

And with every creature
Every tongue
We're lifting our hearts
To the Glorious One

Glorious One
Glorious One
Light of the world
You outshine the sun
King of all kings
Eternity sings
Glorious One

God of infinite worth
With hands that carved out the oceans
You hold the universe
And still You run to the broken

With every heart
That's been set free
We're lifting our song
To our Glorious King

Glorious One
Glorious One
Light of the world
You outshine the sun
King of all Kings
Eternity sings
Glorious one

There is none more beautiful
There is none more wonderful

I still think about that song, just looking at these pictures. If you want to hear the song, here you go:



You can't see the people in the picture below, unless you click on the picture to enlarge it. I made it a point to take pictures with people in them to get a good idea of the scale of things when I showed the pictures to the kids at home.



We saw tons of lizards during our travels. I like lizards. They're cool. But it hit me that with that many scurrying around, some probably got inside people's homes. I don't think I could live with lizards wandering freely in my house.



The Grand Canyon also had the most uninhibited squirrels I've ever been around. They'd get so close to you, it became a little freaky. It's not natural. I started looking to see if their little mouths were frothing, because they were acting rabid. And the thing is, they were close enough that getting a good view of their mouths wasn't difficult! I'm sure their nearness had nothing to do with the signs posted throughout all the parks that stated: Please do not feed the wildlife.



We started walking down into the Grand Canyon, which just made the vastness of it all the more overwhelming. A park guide pointed out these hieroglyphics that he said many visitors miss.



We decided to hike down using our own two feet, instead of sitting astride these beasts.



The wife of the pastor at our previous church had told me before our trip about a mule that jumped off the edge at the Grand Canyon. I wasn't willing to ride on what might have been the next suicidal mule.

After hours visiting various stops around the Grand Canyon, we drove near Lees Ferry to see Marble Canyon on our way to our next destination... Horseshoe Bend. And Bruce took this gorgeous shot.



We arrived at our next sleepover spot, Page, Arizona, in time for supper. The hotel desk clerk recommended Bonkers for supper, and we really enjoyed the restaurant. Great staff. The manager even waited on us some. And he was a mega neat freak, vacuuming the floor with one of those electric-free vacuum things. It's never a bad thing for a restaurant owner to be a neat freak... not in my book anyway.

The next morning, we drove out to Glen Canyon Dam and then Lake Powell. Bruce thinks I'm nuts for taking this next picture. But I saw this huge lizard, so I stalked him. But that guy was way fast. And this is all that was left of him when I got close enough to take a picture... just lizard tracks.



This is Lake Powell, which I did truly enjoy looking at before I was distracted by the lizard.



The next tour we went on was through Antelope Canyon, which was another one of my favorite things about our trip. I was pleasantly surprised that my little point-and-shoot camera took several great pictures inside the dimly lit slot canyons.







Bruce took this one.



The tour we went on was a photographic tour. Which is great if you're really into that photography stuff. And Bruce is.

But seriously, some of the other amateur photographers were as rude as can be. After awhile, I just wandered away on my own so I could be away from them all. Pictures are great, but I wanted to enjoy God's creation without hearing someone constantly asking me to move because my foot was blocking his perfect shot. Plus, I accidentally left my flash on a couple times and, boy, did I get "the look".

Our tour guide took this one of us right before we left Antelope Canyon.



And here we are, going into Utah. But we were weaving in and out between Arizona and Utah the whole day. I pretty much ignored my watch. Arizona does not observe daylight savings time, even thought it is in the same time zone as Utah, Mountain time zone. The Native American Indian reservations in the area also don't observe daylight savings time. Nevada, our start and stop destination, is on Pacific time zone. I was either confused or blissfully, on purpose, unaware of time for much of our trip.



We drove nearly 90 more miles before stopping to see these Betatakin Ruins in northeastern Arizona that were built by ancient cave dwellers. See them?



Maybe it'll help to be a bit closer. I thought those ruins were pretty amazing.



This picture was taken outside of Kayenta, Arizona, which is where we spent our fourth night. Local Native Americans set up these road side stops to sell a variety of their crafts, from jewelry to sand drawings.



The next morning, we visited Monument Valley, Utah. We drove around the area a bit, but didn't go far onto the actual road that goes alongside to the monuments. Because we were in a low profile convertible, and the roads were simply red dirt. After an attempt, we turned around before we got stuck. Not before we took some pictures though.



Then we drove through Goulding, Utah, past Mexican Hat and made a stop at Gooseneck State Park, which was a bit like Horseshoe Bend, but not as pretty. It is amazing to see what meandering rivers can do to rock over time ("millions of years" is what we were told over and over again. And that got a bit old. No pun intended).



From Gooseneck, we drove up the Moki Dugway. Steep, unfinished roads, no guardrail, lots of switchbacks. Bruce loved it! I tried to focus on the horizon instead of the actual road. In the picture below, look on the left side, in the middle of the frame... that's a portion of the road.



A view from the top at Muley Point.



Then on to the Natural Bridges State Park. Even though bridges and arches look much the same, the distinction is made by knowing which were carved by water running underneath and which were caused by wind erosion and collapsing rock.



We drove on to Moab, Utah, which is where we stayed the night. We had supper at The Broken Oar restaurant. And I again was told they do not serve sweet tea. Those people don't know what they're missing! It was rustic and the tables were cramped a bit too close together. Seems like we waited a long time to get service, too, because Bruce was ready to leave and go elsewhere. But I had a coupon, so we stayed!

After supper, it was nearly dusk, and Bruce decided he wanted to drive out to Dead Horse Point State Park, which is supposed to be spectacular in daylight. But by the time we got there, it was dark. Bruce had just told me how cowboys would drive wild mustangs out onto the cliff where they could corral them because there was no place to go but off the cliff otherwise. I did not want to walk around in the dark out there. Especially after seeing signs as we approached the park saying that it closed after daylight hours. So I wimped and stayed in the car. I made Bruce mad, but I'm alive today to tell the tale, so I'm good.

The drive back to Moab was nerve wracking for me. Bruce says that since I had LASIK last year, I have bionic eyes. Well, every single bionic ray was trained on road shoulders, and every few minutes I'd yelp, "deer!" It's just way too hot for those animals to come out during the day, even when we were there in September, so they'd come out in droves when the sun when down. I was very glad to get back to our hotel that night.

The next day we visited the Arches National Park.





See the rock climber on this next photo? Yes, the one in the orange shirt on the bottom. But I didn't even realize until after I took the photo that he had a partner who was already up near the top.



More arches.



We drove back to Moab for lunch at McDonald's before heading to Goblin Valley State Park.

I took this picture because it made me think of my three goblins at home.



The whole park area was like being on a different planet with all these stone aliens standing at attention. And it was blazing hot, too, with the sun hitting those red rocks.



On the move again, I took the next two pictures while we drove on the interstate in Utah. Mostly because it's so very different from what home looks like.





In the areas we visited, we saw a lot of different wildlife than we normally do. Even the deer were different. These are called mule deer. See their big ears?



I got these pictures at Capital Reef National Park, which was an oasis of lush beauty in the middle of dessert. We loved this little area.

Check out the rack on this one.



Free range cows. Signs warned us of them constantly.



We drove through Dixie National Forest, which was a bit like being back at home, with towering pine trees. And we got the same whiff of Ponderosa Pine that we were treated with while on our extended portion of our Sedona Tour. One of my all time favorite smells now.

This road on the way to our next sleepover spot in Escalante, Utah, was unnerving. Where you see the pavement end, the ground ends. Not in some gently sloping way either. Just a drop off on each side with the curvy road in the middle.



There are no chain hotels in Escalante. There are no chain restaurants in Escalante. It was the most remote spot we stayed in during our travels. In fact, it creeped me out at bit. I felt like I was in an old John Wayne western. I felt out of my element just knowing how far away I was from a Wal-mart. But it's a smart small town because it takes advantage of being the only place in the area to offer hotels and restaurants to travelers. We ate supper at a place called Cowboy Blues and had breakfast the next morning at The Prospector. Both offered good, but basic fare, and had friendly staff.

Then we left Escalante for our last full day out West.

First up, Bryce Canyon. Another one of my favorite spots. More yummy Ponderosa Pine scent and wonderful views.

A Pronghorn, grazing. The only animal in the world that can run faster than these guys is the African Cheetah. The brochure from Bryce Canyon said the Pronghorn is one of only a few survivors of the Ice Age. And their eyesight is truly bionic... they can detect movement from four miles away. (Don't say you never learn any neat facts from this blog!)



I bought my calendar for 2010 a few weeks ago just because one month featured a photo of the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon. The hoo what? Hoodoos are those amazing rock columns in the picture below. They reminded me of when I was a kid sitting on the shore of Myrtle Beach, trickling very wet sand through my fingers to make a big gloppy spire of sand. Yea, that. A hoodoo lookalike, on a much smaller scale and in a different color.

Here's the real thing:



From Bryce we headed to Cedar Breaks and then we needed to stop for lunch. I was hungry! We drove to Kanab, Utah, and ate at Houston's Trail's End restaurant, and I had one of the best salads I've ever had. I can't remember the name of it, but it had chicken tenders on top and some kind of spicy southwestern ranch dressing. Umm, umm!

Then we went to Zion National Park.

One of a group of Desert Bighorn Sheep... he and his friends completely stopped traffic as we arrived at the entrance to Zion.



I took tons of pictures. Bruce took mega tons of pictures. And I took a lot of pictures much like this one, because he was cracking me up.



One of the very cool things Zion has done is limited how many cars drive into the park by providing free shuttle tours throughout the park. I told Bruce that Cades Cove in Townsend, Tennessee, should look into that!



Bruce took the two pictures below. I love them both.





That night we drove closer to Vegas so we wouldn't have to be awake as early to catch our flight. We stayed the night in St. George, Utah. By this time, we were tired of real food. Heavy food. We ate at a Dairy Queen where I could get onion rings and a Blizzard.

The next day we drove back into Vegas and caught our flight home. We arrived in Nashville late and by the time we drove home, it was about 2 or 3 in the morning. So we had to wait until the next day to see our children!

So close, and still so far away!

Great trip. But we sure missed our kids. We talked to them every single day, but usually only for a minute or two per child, per parent. And we had a really hard time getting cell service the day we were at the Grand Canyon. I've never felt so removed from them. And I didn't like it.

Our next big trip is simply going to have to include the little goblins.

Finally... Passing on a Good Trait

I see a lot of myself in our children, but too often it's bad stuff. My temper. Lack of discipline. Indecision.

But sometimes I see a glimpse of something that's actually decent in me hopping a generation into the kids. Tenderheartedness. A willingness to always say "sorry".

And having fun with writing.

All three kids "write books" in their spare time. I have no idea what prompted Clay to start doing that, but Spencer and Allison have copied their big brother. It's neat to see their results, even if it does sometimes get annoying to hear "Mom, how do you spell...?" fifty times within a single hour. (Sometime very soon, I'm going to start giving them the same answer my dad used to give me: "Go look it up in the dictionary!")

Yesterday, Clay brought home from school a story that had our whole family cracking up. I'm going to post the whole thing, exactly how he wrote it. No editing by Mom.

What a meal
by Clay

Everyone in the family agreed not to have turkey this Thanksgiving instead we had a live rooster! It all happened when I woke up the day before Thanksgiving. I saw my mom putting a live rooster in the crock pot, no plucked feathers, and it still had its eye, brain, and intestines. I knew I'd get something wacky if I asked for a rooster, but I did it anyways. I said, "What do you think your doing." She said, "Don't use that tone with me young man. Besides you said you wanted to try rooster." I responded, "I didn't want a live, nonplucked, brain-i-fied rooster." She said, "Oh, but it hearts my heart to see an animal die. And it's gross to pluck the feathers and hard." I said, "Uhh!" I went to school that day and worried so much I got really sweaty and got four F's on a quiz. When I got home it smelled so fowl that as soon as the smell hit my nose I was out. When I came to I was soaked. My mom splashed a bucket of water on me. I said I'm going to bed."

We were of school for Thanksgiving so I fought the smell and played Video Games.

At the Thanksgiving meal I was eating and when the rooster got to me it was black! I took a test bite and...... The next thing I knew I was in the hospitil getting my stomach pumped. Man what a meal!

That kid's got unadulterated talent!

Incidentally, we have no plans to try rooster for Thanksgiving. A turkey has been purchased and is sitting in our freezer... plucked, gutted, de-brain-i-fied and eyeball free.

What a Great Day

Spencer has been home from school today with a nasty case of strep throat.

"What's so great about that?" you may wonder. I'll tell you... God does His best work through difficult and odd situations.

This morning I was supposed to go to Bible Study Fellowship, but Spencer had been clutching his throat and crying since yesterday evening. No fever, though, so I planned to send him on to school with my normal advice: Try to make it until after noon so you won't have an absence counted against you. Then call me if you need me to pick you up.

But Bruce looked inside Spencer's throat and said, "He should not go to school."

I sent an e-mail to Spencer's teacher and called my discussion leader at BSF to tell her I wasn't going to make it. But I decided to swing by the church where BSF is held after dropping off Clay and Allison at school to pick up my study notes for the upcoming week instead of having my discussion leader mail them to me.

On the way to school, we all started talking about my grandpa, who is 91 years old and has spent the last month in a rehabilitation center getting physical therapy after a stint in the hospital for pneumonia. Grandpa should be going home this week, which will be good. He has had no phone access while in the rehab center, so I haven't heard from him since I visited him in the hospital. Grandpa rarely lets a week go by without calling.

The kids and I talked about some other health issues that the doctors discovered while grandpa was hospitalized. Issues that will go untreated because of grandpa's age and the belief that to treat might actually jeopardize his life.

Clay had already told me when grandpa was first hospitalized that, should grandpa die, he wanted to go to the funeral. He's processing and preparing himself for the loss the best way a 9-year-old can.

This morning we talked about death, funerals, illness.

After I dropped Clay and Allison at school, Spencer said he also wanted to go to grandpa's funeral when the time comes.

My grandpa is a Christian and the kids know that. Spencer said that he would be sad when grandpa died, but he knew that grandpa would dance in heaven with Jesus. I said he sure would and that it'd been a long time since grandpa had danced. (If ever. I've never seen him dance. But maybe he was a romantic at one time when my grandmother was still alive. I doubt it. He seems more like he would have been a player before my grandmother settled him down!)

We paused in our talk for a bit. And then...

"Mom, when can I become a Christian?"

This may seem out of the blue, but it's not. Spencer has talked about this at least once a week since before I took him to see our previous pastor back in April. He's been so very close for so long.

But I hesitated.

In my human mother heart, I think, "If ever there was a child who needed Jesus, it's this wild child, this turn-on-a-dime emotional roller coaster redhead, this bold bundle of sweetness clashing with sass." Not that all people don't need Jesus in the same dire way.

I don't want to rush him, because I don't want him plagued with doubts later. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 20. I have no doubts. I know what I was. I know what I am.

I also don't want to have unfair expectations of this child especially. When Clay asked questions about Jesus at the ripe age of 3, I thought it unusual. But he is a deep thinker, so when he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart as a 5 year old, I was hesitant, but less uncertain.

Clay is a manageable child. Always has been.

Spencer is a whirlwind. Always has been.

I don't want to expect Spencer to have a vastly different nature as a 7 year old new Christian, because I'm not sure that's reasonable. I know I became a completely changed person, but I was a mess. And I was an adult, capable of understanding much more.

Still, Jesus said to come to him like a little child.

Ironically, Bruce and I just said last night that we wondered if we were wrongly holding Spencer back.

So when Spencer asked in the van this morning, I said, "You can become a Christian whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready right now," he said.

I asked him more questions, until I felt he truly understood. Then I said, "Let's pray, but I have to pull this van over."

"Mom," he said, "you can just pray with your eyes open."

Yes. Yes, I can.

So I led him in a prayer. And he asked Jesus to forgive his sins, to come into his heart, and to help him live for Him from now on.

He had the biggest smile on his face when we said, "Amen". And then I noticed that he was blinking. A lot.

That sweet pea was nearly weeping.

But he was pleased as punch.

I took him in the church with me to get my BSF notes and he told a friend we saw, who was in my group last year, that he had just asked Jesus into his heart. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I saw my discussion leader, so I stopped to get out to tell her I'd gotten my notes, and before I got out, Spencer said, "Will you tell her I just asked Jesus into my heart?"

He wanted to go tell our new preacher right then, too. But I thought that as new members of the church it would not bode well if we passed on some strep to the pastor. I did call him, though, to share the news.

Later, Spencer told our pediatrician about his decision. Our pediatrician is a Christian man, and our kids love him. When Spencer told him, the doctor told Spencer they were brothers now and then he held out his fist and said, "Give me a bump on that." So they bumped fists. He even told Spencer a little bit about when he became a Christian.

It's just been a great day.

The only hitch... that twin factor. Allison cried when Spencer told her and Clay when they got home from school. And she said, "I'm never going to get to be a Christian." ARGH!

And now, as I type this, I hear Spencer, fussing because his siblings don't want to play with his streppy old self. There is stomping going on. Balled fists. Scrunched up face.

A teachable moment for him about that elusive fruit of the spirit... self control.

A teachable reminder for me that God doesn't expect us to come to him perfect. We're works in progress.

Rise and Shine!

No school today for the kids, so I thought I might get to sleep in this morning. Clay is an early bird, but usually I wake up Spencer and Allison at 7 each morning. Some Saturdays, the younger two have been known to sleep until 8:30 a.m.

I had such grand plans for dream land.

Until I heard bickering in the den at 6:30 this morning. Clay and Allison. I weaved downstairs and quietly whispered an earful to them. ("Quietly" because I didn't want to wake the third munchkin up!)

Then I crawled back in bed. Bruce hopped in the shower a few minutes later.

And then Spencer crawled in bed with me.

All before 7 a.m.

What is wrong with these kids?! It's a day off!!

But Spencer had such a smiley face when he scooted over to me. What can a mom do but smile back and start the day, grateful.

Spencer loves to be tickled, so we got in a few minutes of that before we settled in for a deep discussion.

It was his turn to tickle me and he had my arms pinned over my head while he sat on my belly. I have to note that he had an unfair advantage because my legs were still all bunched up under the covers. But he is extraordinarily strong for such a string bean.

He was letting me rest in between pokes when he said, "I want to look up your nose."

And if that's not an indication of a soon-to-follow ridiculous statement, I don't know what is.

"Okay," I said.

"Hmmm," he said. "You have hair up there."

"Yes, Spencer, I know," I replied. "You do, too. Everyone does. It helps keep junk out of your nose and helps to keep you from getting sick, too."

Then he made a comment about how his great grandpa had LOTS of hair up his nose.

And coming out of his ears, too.

My grandpa is 91. He's bald as can be on top of his head, but he does have some hairy ears.

I laughed and said, "When you get old, you'll have hair growing out of your ears, too."

He looked stricken. Horrified, really.

"Oh no," Spencer said. "Then no girl will want me."

When I quit cracking up, I said, "You'll probably already be married, so you should be safe."

And then his precious 7-year-old logic kicked in and he said, "Yeah, and by then, she'll have hairy ears, too."

What a great way to start the day.

Lead Me

Loving this song. I know it's a remake, and I've never heard the original, but I love the way these guys sing it.

Chris and Conrad's version of "Lead Me to the Cross".